1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus and image processing method for carrying out processing to associate image data, and image associated information relating to that image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an imaging apparatus such as a digital camera there is one set of shooting conditions (for example, shutter speed, aperture value, ISO sensitivity etc.) when shooting a single frame. However, in recent years, it has been proposed to carry out shooting with a different shutter speed for every pixel or region, by changing exposure time for each pixel or line of an image sensor, as shown in Japanese patent laid-open No. 2011-044966 (hereafter referred to as “patent publication 1”). Also, Japanese patent laid-open No. 2011-130167 proposes an imaging apparatus that applies different image processing gain for each pixel or each image region of an image for a single taken frame, and generates images that have been taken with effectively different sensitivity (ISO sensitivity). In this way it is proposed to take a single frame at a plurality of shooting conditions.
Also, a plurality of images are combined and creation of an image of a single frame is carried out. For instance, an imaging apparatus is available on the market that acquires a plurality of images while making shooting conditions such as shutter speed and focus position different, and by combining the plurality of images, functions such as HDR combination where dynamic range is extended, and focus stacking where depth of focus is increased, are provided. By forming the image data for a single frame under various shooting conditions in this way, and combining, it is possible to obtain an image with an effect applied that can not be obtained with normal shooting.
Also, with digital cameras that are available on the market, and image processing apparatus etc. for processing digital camera images, information relating to images, such as shooting conditions, is made associated information (metadata) of the image data, and it is possible to apply processing and to store this metadata. Further, with a digital camera, when performing playback display of alive view image or an image that has already been taken, the images may be displayed with these items of associated information overlaid.